Generosity Wins

This weekend marks one year since we saw a HUGE miracle in our lives. We won a Brand New Car!

Now, let me tell you the whole story....

When Chuck and I got married one of the things we decided as a couple, was that we would be generous. We have been on the receiving end of other's generosity and we have watched on the sidelines as others in our life have been the ultimate example and given BIG to people around them. Plus, God GAVE his only son for us. What more of a reason do we need?

On top of all that, the Bible says in Proverbs 11:24-25 "he who gives freely, receives even more!"

Knowing and believing this, we want to be givers. In the past three and a half years, Chuck and I gave away two of our cars. First, my car that I had when we got married to a wonderful family of five we knew that needed it more than us; and then Chuck's car he had when we got married, to another sweet family of five who needed it more than us. We had seen this family walk to church...in July...in Houston. It was a no-brainer. We gave.

And, we still had one vehicle left.

Then, we decided to start a family of our own and knew SOON we would need a second car...a family-mobile.

Our son Wrenly was born in the beginning of October, just as our church began a series called "The Circle Maker" based on the book by Mark Batterson. In this series, we were challenge to dream big and pray specific prayers, "circling" them with consistent prayer and faith. We decided to write down these things we were praying for. And on this list we wrote:  A brand new car w/ no payments.

We began to pray and believe but still needed a car asap. So a couple weeks went by and we found a used SUV for a great deal and decided to purchase it. We went to a new branch of a Credit Union near us and opened the account. Inside the lobby was a giant poster of a red Chevrolet Camaro and promotion for a giveaway to celebrate their 75 year anniversary. Interesting...

A couple weeks later (toward the end of November), Chuck received a call from the Credit Union. "Mr. Martin, we wanted to let you know that in honor of our 75th Anniversary, we are drawing a monthly winner every month this year and you are our November winner! You have won $1,075 and are one of twelve monthly winners to be entered into a drawing to win a brand new 2012 Camaro!"

When Chuck got off the phone, he was excited but looked and me and said " I feel like we are going to win but I'm sure everyone thinks they are going to win." I replied, "Maybe, but not everyone wrote it down in their prayer journal and has been praying for it!"

That very day Chuck facebook'd and tweeted a picture of a 2012 Camaro and posted "By the Grace of God, this is coming our way January 26th, 2013." Then, in the coming days he called the Insurance Company and got a quote for our rate adding the Camaro. You see, these are acts of faith. We began to ask in faith, believing! ( Matt 21:22; John 14:13)

Needless to say, January 26th rolled around and we went to the Camaro Giveaway Event. About 150 people or so gathered in anticipation. That morning Chuck had asked me what I was going to say when we won and I wasn't sure so I turned the question on him. He replied with emotion, "I'll say that it may look like chance won, or that this random guy won, but really God wins. Generosity wins. He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." and then he said he'd continue with the story of us giving our cars away and trusting God that he would provide.

After "randomly"  selecting a car key from a basket and then waiting while the winners from months January through October tried their keys in the ignition, it was finally Chuck's turn. He decided he wouldn't just barely sit in the car and lean in, he was getting in and shutting the door! And he did, and the ignition started! The crowd went crazy. We, along with others, balled our eyes out. To this day, I tell people it was like watching water be turned to wine - a modern day miracle!

As we reflect on this anniversary date of winning the car, we are grateful and still in awe at the faithfulness of our God. Whatever you need, our God can supply it. He still answers prayers.

Here's a video of the actual win!